Dope tests for Spanish bullfights

As well as drug tests, bullfighting faces protests, such as this
one in Barcelona.Photo: Albert Gea

DOPING tests are to be introduced at Spain's most prestigious
bullfighting festival after allegations that bulls are drugged to
make the matadors' job easier.

Breeders at next month's Feria de San Isidro face fines of up to
60,000 euros ($A101,000) if they drug their bulls.

Blood and urine samples will be taken from bulls that vets think
are behaving strangely.

Bulls undergo other tests before they enter the ring, but this
will be the first time they are subjected to specific anti-doping
tests. They were ordered by Francisco Granados, who heads the
Madrid regional government's bullfighting authority. At first they
will apply only to the Feria de San Isidro event, but could be
carried out at other bullfights in the Madrid region.

Breeders and organisers have long been suspected of rigging
bullfights. As well as drugging, since the 1940s there have been
claims that the tips of horns have been shaved to make the bulls
less deadly.

The two most commonly used drugs are said to be tranquillisers
and corticosteroids.

Ricardo Mirat, a vet at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, said
corticosteroids "give the bull more resistance and can disguise a
limp or an injury, which allows the animal to pass initial
tests".